Dominique Dunne: The Tragic Death of the "Poltergeist" Star
According to AllThatsInteresting.com, Poltergeist star Dominique Ellen Dunne was "brutally strangled by her ex-boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney. But he only served three and a half years for the crime."
As AllThatsInteresting.com explained further, "Dunne had all the ingredients necessary to be a Hollywood superstar. Pretty, talented, and with an enviable resumé, Dunne’s star was on the rise with roles in other films such as Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker. But after being attacked by Sweeney Dunne subsequently fell into a coma. After floundering on life support, she died on Nov. 4, 1982."
Sweeney had worked as a head chef at an upscale restaurant in Santa Monica, California. And when her family campaigned for justice and founded a victim’s advocacy group, Sweeney himself claimed he was being “harassed” by the grieving family.
AllThatsInteresting.com said "Dunne was raised in a life of privilege. Despite her parents’ divorce in 1967, she attended the best schools, including the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. After she graduated high school, she spent a year in Florence, Italy, where she learned how to speak Italian. Upon her return to the States, she took acting classes at Colorado State University and ultimately began getting cast in film productions like Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker and in television shows like The Day The Loving Stopped."
But Dunne's most-recognizable role would also be her singular main appearance on the big screen. In Poltergeist, Dunne played Dana Freeling, the sardonic teenage daughter of the family who was terrorized by an in-house supernatural presence. Directed by Stephen Spielberg, Poltergeist earned Dunne high praise and Hollywood cache, and many critics believed that this role would be the first of many to come for her.
As AllThatsInteresting.com continued to reveal, it was in 1981 when Dunne met Sweeney, then chef at the upscale Ma Maison Restaurant, which was best known for giving Wolfgang Puck his start in the culinary world. After only a few weeks of dating, Dunne and Sweeney moved in together — but their association dissolved swiftly.
"Sweeney was jealous and possessive," chronicled AllThatsIntersting.con, and he "soon began physically abusing Dunne. After much back and forth, Dunne finally snuck away from her abuser on Sept. 26, 1982, and subsequently ended the relationship. Sweeney moved out of their shared apartment, and Dunne — who was staying with her mother until Sweeney moved out — moved back in, changing the locks as she did so."
But according to Buzzfeed.com, on Oct. 30, 1982, just "a few weeks after Dunne broke up with her abusive boyfriend John Sweeney, Dunne was rehearsing with V co-star David Packer when Sweeney showed up. Dunne agreed to step outside to speak with Sweeney, who attacked her. Later, Packer came outside to see Sweeney kneeling over an unconscious Dunne. When police arrived, Sweeney said, “I killed my girlfriend,” and admitted to choking her.
As BuzzFeed.com revealed, Dunne never regained consciousness and was taken off life support a few days later. She was only 22. Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and served only three and a half years in jail.
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